A/N: I was actually planning a short Halloween fic; the next fic in plot order will be set around it, though this would only be a one shot. Unfortunately, life and bad writing environments kept getting in the way. Expect it eventually. But for now, I hope this chapter is suitably chilling for the holiday. Not exactly how I planned it, but it works.
Ah, feeding time. It is always an occasion to look forward to. My favorite is, of course, plants for their taste and the nutrition. But there is something about meat that I love. I wonder what the souls of these animals and Pokemon think of humanity mashing their bodies into fine material, barely if at all recognizable from what they used to be? Of course, it is understandable why they do so if you think about it. Knowing and seeing exactly what they eat is uncomfortable to many of them. But to me, it is empowering to see your prey before you eat it. Especially if they are alive. You get to hear their screams and the silence that follows. I've eaten plant Pokemon before, back when I hunted with Lochlyn Nuzzo. They give the best of all worlds.
My leader, as of now, stood before me. He is unlike most of his race. Unlike that police officer who thought he could control me. What was his name? It doesn't matter. Few remember it now that he's retired at my hands. But with Nori Carino, I could tell quickly that our time together was going to be very special.
"Okay guys, got you your dinner," the young human with dark hair and eyes like sparkling rubies addressed the three of us. Our other companion was not out; he was likely going to serve her separately. A quick glance revealed the food was already lined up in a triangle formation. We all had processed Pokemon food, but we each had something extra. Nori Carino must have been feeling generous. The squirrel had simple berries, the teal beast had a can of shredded meat, and my portion was clearly marked by the presence of spinach.
I was unable to resist. I dove upon it and started to tear in. The kibbles were bland and dry as usual. Something to be eaten slowly to get any flavor. But the vegetables! They were fresh and utterly delicious.
My leader only laughed at my enthusiasm. Even the white squirrel cracked a small smile. But my other teammate had one hypocritical word to say about it: "Disgusting."
"And it is all reaching my mouth," I said, deliberately stabbing a clove and swirling it along my maw. Chunks of food invariably ended up on the ground whenever she ate. "Oh, but I understand. It is difficult seeing what others perceive you as."
She blew me off with a wave of a paw. "You talk too much nonsense, you animal." I only smirked at the slur in our language. To refer to a fellow Pokemon with the word for an animal was as such under context. From how the white squirrel glanced away, even he was smart enough to realize that I had pierced through to an uncomfortable truth.
Our leader was either oblivious or nonplussed by that. "I'm going to go feed Qwilfish now." Just as I suspected. He stepped away as the other two walked forward and started into their meals. They made small talk that wasn't very interesting. They did their best not to look at me.
My teammates are talented in the sport of Pokemon battling if nothing else. That white squirrel occasionally nervously glanced over at me. I feinted a lunge, which he recoiled slightly at. He is so innocent, and so easy to pick on. The response from the other was a harsh glare and silent threat. She thinks herself above me, yet she fights as fiercely as her namesake. I wonder if she realizes how alike we are? We both enjoy hurting others – why else would she love battle so much and have done what she did? – and we find our leader worthy for the same reason. That he never imposes upon us.
That was the extent of our interactions as I ate. I was nearly done when a screech in the abyssal language drew my attention. I knew a cry of distress when I heard one. "My skin is so dry! It itches so much!" I glanced over to the source. That so-called Qwilfish was writhing in agony and uncomfortable at the still-unfamiliar sensation of air in her lungs. "I need water! Don't just stand there! Do something!"
"What's wrong?!" shouted our leader. My other two teammates hurried over, though kept around five feet away. Another human male with tanned skin was gawking from nearby. Nori Carino gave him faint acknowledgment.
"I said I need water!" complained the fish, as if humans could understand our words on a whim. She inflated ever so slightly. "I knew it, you're like the rest!"
It was a word that resonated with at least one of the other Pokemon present. Water. The Pokemon that lived in it had an interesting relationship with their natural element. They did not need it to breathe, but they needed it to survive. Everything did, but they sometimes needed it around them and not just inside of their body.
Our leader hunched over her. He was an observant one. It was no surprise to me that he noticed that her skin was not quite as damp as it could be. "Wait, w-water?" asked the young boy. His frantic words had a measure of uncertainty and hesitation in their tone. "Do you need some?"
I assumed from his asking that they had worked out a means to communicate. I watched closely and saw her bob in a nod-like fashion. She gave some words no one but myself was likely to understand. "Yes, I live in water! I can't be out of it for too long! If you really care, hurry up!" Her neurotic words were rapid and laced with faux anger. She even puffed up slightly to add to the facade. But I could sense her true feelings.
"Okay, hold on! Stay here and be good, guys!" Back into her Poke Ball she went. My leader was no fool, he was not about to handle her with his bare hands. Into his house he ran to use the shower inside.
I cackled at his foolishness and naïveté. Seeing these realizations strike him was a big part of what makes belonging to Nori Carino worth it. There is no way around it! He is going to have to ensure her skin stays hydrated! I wonder what he thinks about that? The fact that he will have to contend with his greatest fear on such a regular basis?
"This isn't funny!" came the high-pitched and boyish wail of a particular electric squirrel. One glance, not even a glare in his direction but a simple look, and he was regretting his choice of words and tone against me.
"It is to me." I gave him a predator's smile. There were many funny things about this situation.
"You're sick," the teal beast roughly said to me. The humans called her a demon, a name which both Nori Carino and she had embraced. Her combat skills were exactly as one would expect from that moniker and a would-be leader of her tribe. Demon used a far more convoluted term in the terrestrial tongue that most of us Pokemon spoke, but that is the rough approximation.
"Yeah! She could have died!" the little squirrel yelled, shuffling closer to Demon. Bold enough to yell at that which he feared, but not enough to not be close to a friend as he did so.
"This freak would find that funny too," Demon snorted.
"She would not have died," I calmly told them. "Her skin had not yet dried out to anywhere close to lethal levels." We are not quite in suspended animation while in our Poke Balls; we are even aware of the world outside to an extent. But our metabolism is slowed. It is like a rest. And I have my suspicions that Poke Balls have other contingencies to stabilize their occupants. "She was just being melodramatic about a little discomfort."
"As if a psychopath like you can understand what she was saying," Demon dismissed, slashing her front left paw along the ground.
Now I could only smile. "I understood every word, actually." My voice stayed as even as usual, yet even I could not help but boast slightly.
"Really?" the white squirrel inquired, tilting his head. "How? Why?"
I repeated her words. I even did my best to match her tone and inflection. "That fills in the blanks, did it not?" I directed this question at Demon, who turned away with a snarl. "I learned the four main languages to understand my victims." I also have a fair grasp on the language of humanity.
"You have telepathy, don't you?" Demon accused. I shook my head in disappointment. What an asinine belief. "I tried learning abyssal with a–" The normally tough Pokemon hesitated. There was something she was embarrassed and angry about. With a friend, perhaps she was going to say? "From ones in a lake near my old colony. I only learned a little after a year!"
"That is because you were not as dedicated as me." I could not help but throw in a laugh as well. From the way she seethed, she had no clear counterargument.
"Fine, you're even more of a psychopath than I thought." I took that as a compliment, smiling at it.
"Uh-huh!" the white squirrel yelled. "It's not like Nori will let you talk with her! You'd just see mean things."
"Who knows?" I threw up my claws. "Maybe he would let me. He trusts me enough now to leave me with you two. And maybe I can succeed where you both failed."
"Yeah, right."
"You'd just scare her! Bully!"
What an amusing assumption. I could not help but grin at it. From how their expressions changed, they realized what I was about to say before I said it. "I am our leader's servant. And I have the utmost respect for our new teammate."
"Surprised you respect anything at all," Demon spat at me. She seemed to believe me, which is more than can be said about her precious friend (that she wouldn't dare admit to).
The ignorant squirrel stumbled over his words. "Yeah, why? You hate us both. Why do you like her?"
My maw crooked downwards. I could not mask my disappointment. He had known me for nearly a month and was still under that mistaken belief? Hate is a strong emotion. Despite my misgivings, I do not hate either of them. Yet it is fun to see him squirm, so I decided to let him keep thinking that for a while by not answering.
"Is it not obvious?" When they did not understand, I could not help but give them a condescending snicker. "She has killed."
You are not truly alive until you willfully take the life of another. No, I do not speak of tiny insects or even animals. Taking the lives of the weak and helpless does not make you superior. It has to mean something, and though it was a defenseless human whom she had slain, it was a life that meant a lot indeed. My greatest wish is to see my leader take a life of his own. It may be difficult the first time, but it becomes easier the more blood that you are covered in.
I wonder what this Qwilfish was thinking as she launched the attack that slew that human? Did she feel a rush of power as the blood shot out of his body and stained the water around them? Or from watching him recoil from the pain of the wound? Did his screams please her? They were in a pond as well, from what I understand. It would have stung from an imminent infection as well. Watching your victim struggle as they fall into the throes of death is exhilarating. Especially seeing that last little bit of life drain from their body.
"Not on purpose!" The squirrel stamped up and down.
"She knew what she was doing," I explained to them in simple terms. I was not a witness to it, but I could tell. "Did you know that we Pokemon as a species subconsciously restrain ourselves when attacking humans?"
"Pokemon? Humans?" the Demon repeated, quivering in revulsion at the two words. "Think you're above us by using manh's term?" But I could see it. Her anger at something so petty masked her doubt. Yes, she had realized. A warrior who had attacked the partners of many humans surely had the battle sense to know when she was not attacking at full capacity.
I let her know I knew. "You knew that, did you not? You should know."
The realization started to sink in with both of them. I doubted that squirrel ever intentionally tried to harm a human being, but from her growling, Demon had either nearly done so or accidentally did so when she was on her crusade against trainers. That is when the subconscious restraint kicks in the most. You can resist it if you put your mind to it, of course. Surely she realizes. Ah, if only she was not held back by her inhibitions.
"Do you understand?" I taunted them with the truth. What I had brought up, and the fact that humans were far more durable than they appeared. It led me to one conclusion. "You would have to be trying on purpose to inflict a lethal wound."
"No! You're lying!" the white squirrel denied, electricity sparking from his cheek sacs as he held his shaking head. "It was an accident! It was a freak accident! That's what Nori said!"
I could see the tears in his eyes. How he ran from the truth that this Qwilfish that they believed in so much was in truth, a killer. Oh, perhaps she did feel remorse. But it was not for the reasons they thought. If she had not been caught and punished by humanity and their laws, she would have thought nothing of his corpse as it floated lifelessly to the surface.
"She isn't lying," the Demon set his friend straight. That small moment where the squirrel's mouth fell open and he looked utterly dejected! Priceless! Even as her next words restored a little bit of that hope. "But she's forgetting something! That fish was under fear and distress. She was panicking! You know panic affects a mind, you damn animal! She's not a murderer like you!"
I smirked. This is why I always enjoy talking with the Demon Nidorina. She had a sound argument. It was one I could not dispute. Not being of sound mind might make it possible to attack a human at full power. I recall her calling that Qwilfish a murderer like me before. How her tune had changed.
"Maybe you are right," I conceded. When faced with danger, one can either flee to escape it or stand their ground. I have not seen it myself if it applied to we Pokemon attacking humans, yet I could not rule out its existence. "Yet in that one moment, she acted with intent to kill. You should know. In the wild, it is these small moments that can make the difference between being that which slays or the slain. Perhaps it was an accident that happened to hit in just the right spot, but it did. And so here she is."
Far too many are chained down by notions of conventional morality. It is what we do when push comes to shove that truly defines us as living beings. Too many hold onto their beliefs even if it is disadvantageous to themselves. What this Qwilfish did spoke volumes to me. She may not be exactly like myself, but she does not have to be. I can relate. I have killed to protect my leader, past and present. Her kill was to survive, regardless of whether she misunderstood the threat. Yes, that meant she could indeed be a danger to us or even our leader if she registers us as one. I wonder, would he or these two forgive a teammate if they tried to kill him? I know what my answer would be.
Demon suddenly turned to the white squirrel. "Why are we even bothering with this? He's an insane monster. Come on, let's get back to our grub."
"Okay, Demon! Yeah, she isn't like he thinks at all!" The white squirrel was all too eager to get away from me, even if it was abrupt. The two of them shoved their food away from what remained of my own and started to dig in.
Insanity is just a label wielded by those who cannot understand another. They must already care for their new 'friend.' How quaint. What will happen when they realize that she is not a 'normal' Pokemon, but one such as myself? A remorseless killer when pushed to the breaking point. I was only trying to spare them the pain in their hearts. If only they had realized that.
They were not paying attention to me. I was truly unattended. So I did the only natural thing. I walked into the automotive home. Those two saw me much too late, as I was climbing the stairs. They shouted at me. I ignored them both.
Nori Carino was seated at a table looking inward at the open shower room. He was not ignorant to the potential threat in front of him. He had a hand clasped on her Poke Ball and his legs were bent, ready to fall aside. He took note of me right away and did not react. He was confused, actually. I could smell the scent of water and hear my fellow murderer inside, mumbling prayers to her god.
"Allow me, leader," I offered, making a bowing gesture and flashing my claws. Body language is an important part of communication with other species, and he knew some of mine. That meant I was ready to offer my strength and that he should stand back. Or in this case, my tongue. I would speak to her and make her understand the situation. It was only half a chance he would allow me. Now, would he or not?
I began to move towards the door leading to the room where this Qwilfish sat. Yet my leader reacted as swiftly as a Pidgeot diving upon and cleaving the scales of a feeble Magikarp.
And with that, I found myself back in the dark confines of my Poke Ball. The darkness was the way I envisioned it, perfectly suited to my tastes. My leader was impressively swift, perhaps wise after he was displeased with what I did to one of his enemies. I could only smirk at the irony. He was going on about not being able to properly communicate with this fish, and yet he unknowingly held the solution right in his hands! Such a pity. I trust him for the most part, but he still does not fully trust me, in spite of my showing I was willing to kill in his name. We have far to go. But he will get there in time.
Time can change many things. I long for the day those sweet and innocent red eyes of his burn like an inferno. Idealism can only last for so long. Someday, he will understand. And then, we will truly be as one.
Perhaps in time he will allow me to speak with her. Or perhaps I will try to find a way to inform him of what I know. And he would find my insight very helpful indeed. Because I can tell. It is the hunter within me that senses her feelings. It is my instincts which tell me why. What drives her from Nori Carino is the same thing that drew me to him. Something we both sensed. To me, it is an admirable trait. But to her, his wild soul fills her with doubt and dread of what might await her next.
She fears him.
